The Insert Tag Tab

Select content in the document and then use the buttons on the ribbon of the Insert Tag tab to insert your selection into a new tag.

If content that’s already tagged is selected and then placed in a new tag, that new tag will be nested inside whatever tag already held that content. (Use “Level Up” to push the new tag up and out, if needed.)

If a tag is selected and then a new tag is created, the new tag will be a “parent” to the tag that was originally selected.

If the Tag Root is selected and then a new tag is created, the new tag will be placed at the bottom of the Tags tree.

The “Toggle” Group

Sticky Buttons

The Sticky Button option is helpful for tagging multiple items in a document that all need to be tagged similarly, for example in tagging successive paragraphs or for individually tagging data cells in a table. By toggling “on” Sticky Button and choosing the tag type that you want to make, content can be very quickly and easily tagged.

How to Use Sticky Buttons:

Select “Sticky Button” in the Insert Tag tab’s Ribbon,

Choose the type of tag to create,

Highlight the content in the document that needs to be tagged.

Continue highlighting similar content. As the content is selected, it will be placed in the tag that was selected in Step 2.

To turn off Sticky buttons, select the “Sticky Button” button again.

Individual Parents

The Individual Parents toggle provides a quick way to select multiple items (text runs, images, bullets, etc.) and place them in their own tags (as opposed to putting them all in the same tag). This is useful, for example, when selecting all of the bullets in a list and then placing them into their own <Lbl> tags.

How to Use Individual Parents:

Select the content to be tagged,

Choose Individual Parents,

Choose the tag type to be created,

Move the selected tags to the correct reading order if needed. Note: By default, this feature is turned off so that when content is selected and tagged, the items are all placed in the same tag.

The “Basic” Group

When content in the PDF is selected (either in the Physical View, the Tags Tree, or the Untagged Content Panel) and then a tag is selected from the Basic Group, the content will be placed inside the chosen tag type. Note: If the selected content is already in a tag when a new tag is created, the content will be placed in the new tag which is then created inside the preexisting tag.

H2 – Heading Level 2 – Major sections within a document. Like chapters in a book.

H3 – Heading Level 3 – The first sub-section within a chapter (for example). Subordinate to an H2.

H4 – Heading Level 4 – Similar in concept but subordinate to an H3.

H5 – Heading Level 5 – Similar in concept but subordinate to an H4.

H6 – Heading Level 6 – Similar in concept but subordinate to an H5.

H – Heading Level tag used in “Strongly Structured” PDF documents. As per PDF/UA, do not mix “H” and “H#” tags in the same document.

The “Figure” Group

Selecting an image and then the Figure button will place that image inside a <Figure> tag.

When text is selected and then Caption is chosen, that text will be placed inside a <Caption> tag. The Caption can then be placed in the correct reading order as needed (including being moved inside a table, above the first table row or below the last table row, for a table caption).

The “Table” Group

When content (or a tag) is selected, and one of these tagging options is chosen, the selected item will be placed inside the chosen tag type. This can be used to tag a table if needed. Select the text, create the <TH> or <TD> cells as needed, select the <TH> and <TD> cells and place them in their <TR> tags, and then select the <TR> tags and place them inside a <Table> tag.

Note: Table should only be used for Data Tables that have content associated with Column and/or Row Headers. If there aren’t Headers to associate with data in the table, then the table is being used for layout purposes and shouldn’t be tagged as a table.

Table – This is the outer most tag when structuring a data table in PDF.

TR – Table Row – Data tables are organized by row in a PDF. Consequently, the <Table> should contain as many <TR> tags as there are rows visible in the Physical View of the table.

TH – Table Header – The column and/or row header information in the table should be placed in <TH> tags. In addition, in the properties panel (discussed later) the appropriate scope (column or row) needs to be assigned.

TD – Table Data – The data in the table should be placed in <TD> tags.

The “List” Group

When content (or a tag) is selected, and one of these tagging options is chosen, the selected item will be placed inside the chosen tag type. This can be used to tag a List, if needed, by selecting content, creating <Lbl> or <LBody> tags as needed, selecting related <Lbl> and <LBody> tags, placing them in <LI> tags, and then selecting the <LI> tags and placing them inside a <L> (List) tag.

List – This is the outer most tag when structuring a list in a PDF.

LI – List Item – The second tag in a list (a “child” to the List tag.) A <LI> should contain the <Lbl> and <LBody> tags (and their content) for each item in the list. A list of five items in the Physical View, for example, would have five <LI> tags inside the <L>.

Lbl – Label – This tag contains bullets, letters, numbers, etc. at the start of each list item in the Physical View. (The numbers 1-4 in this list would all be placed inside <Lbl> tags.) (There are other uses for Lbl tags, too – for example, when tagging footnotes.)

LBody – This tag contains the text of each list item in the Physical View. (The information that is being conveyed in list format.) There is one <LBody> per <LI>.

The “Other Tags” Group

As with the other tagging options in the Insert Tag Tab, when content is selected, and one of these tagging options is chosen, the selected content will be placed inside the chosen tag type.

Span – A <Span> is a good “all-purpose” tag to use for correcting problems like (some) color failures, changing the language of a word or phrase, manipulating how content should be read, or for correcting OCR errors.

Link – The tag to be used when tagging a hyperlink. The <Link> tag should contain the text for the link and the Link Annotation (the interactive part that makes the link actually “go” to the target).

Form – Similar to a link, the <Form> is used to correctly tag interactive forms. The <Form> tag should contain the text of the “question” (Client’s Name, for example) and the Form Annotation (widget). Like a Link Annotation, a Form Annotation is the interactive part of the form – the checkbox, text field, etc. – that actually gets filled out. In addition, the Form Annotation should have a tooltip assigned to it so that when a screen reader is in “form filling mode” the user will know what they’re being asked.

TOC – Table of Contents – The “outer most” tag when structuring a table of contents. Like a specialized kind of list, the Table of Contents tag contains all of the TOCI (Table of Contents Item) tags.

TOCI – Table of Contents Item – A tag similar to a List Item. The <TOCI> contains a <Reference> tag with the text and perhaps a <Link> (should be properly tagged) for each line in the table of contents in the Physical View. In other words, if the table of contents in a document shows five chapters, then the <TOC> tag should contain five <TOCI> tags inside it.

Note – The second of two tags needed to properly structure a footnote. The text in the footnote (at the bottom of the page, for example) should be placed in a <Note> tag. (The <Note> tag can then be moved in the reading order to where it would logically make more sense to be read.)

Reference – Used to contain the text (and link, if applicable) in a <TOCI>. Also, <Reference> tags are used to contain the superscript number (letter, symbol, etc.) for footnotes (where the note is being referred to in the body of the document).

ReversedChars – “Reversed Characters” – Contain the text when tagging languages that read from right to left.

Standard tags (dropdown menu) – Expand this menu to choose other (less commonly used) standard PDF tags. If the button’s not on the ribbon, it’ll be in this menu.

Role Map tags (dropdown menu) – Expand this menu to choose from non-standard tags that have been used elsewhere in the document.

The “Generate Tags from Selection” Group

When content is selected in either the Physical View, the Tags tree, or the Untagged Content Panel, use these buttons to create the desired structural element for that content:

Table – A <Table> tag will be created with <TR> and <TD> cells inside. Note: The table will be constructed with rows and data cells but for it to be fully compliant with accessibility guidelines, the header cells will need to be changed from <TD> to <TH> and they will need to be assigned the correct Scope (column or row). (Adjusting the table as needed can be easily done in the Table Editor in CommonLook.)

List – A <List> tag will be created with <LI> tags inside for each item in the list. In addition, the bullets, numbers, etc., will be placed in <Lbl> tags inside each <LI> and the text will be placed inside <Lbody> tags as well (again, inside the appropriate list item). Note: When a list is created in this way, not only will the <Lbl> and <LBody> tags be created, but also the list numbering attribute will be set in the list’s properties.

TOC – A properly structured Table of Contents will be created containing the necessary <TOCI>, <Reference>, and <Link> tags as needed.

The “Others” Group

The “Recall” button in the “Others” group acts like the “Last channel” button on your TV remote. This button allows users to quickly navigate back and forth between the last two tags selected.

Pro Tip: This can be particularly useful when you have to find a tag in the Tags tree and then move it to a new location. For example: Select the tag in the Tags tree that comes right before the tag that you’re moving. Next, select the tag that you want to move. “Cut” the tag to move (either by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+X or by opening the context menu and choosing “Cut”), use the “Recall” button to locate the tag in the Tags tree where your “cut” tag will be moved to, and then “Paste as sibling” (Ctrl+V or, in the context menu navigate to “Paste” and then choose “Paste as sibling”).

The “Pagination” Group

A specific type of Artifact used for artifacting running page headers and footers. Select the header (for example) at the top of a page and then choose Pagination. A dialog box opens asking for the sub-type (header or footer) and options for the page range in the document in which to create this artifact. When choices are made and “OK” is selected, the headers (or footers) on those page(s) will be artifacted (and not read by screen readers). Use of Pagination artifacts is required by PDF/UA standards.

User Tags

From within the Settings tab, it’s possible to set up your “User tags” options to give quicker access to standard (or custom) tags that don’t normally appear on the ribbon. For example, if you use <Article> tags a lot you could put that in the “User tags” group so that you don’t have to use the Standard tags dropdown menu every time. Once this is done, the tag types that you select will be available in the ribbon in this “User tags” group.

The Convert Tag Tab

Because, in this tab, selected tags are changed from their existing tag type to a different tag type, the Groups, and the tagging options in each Group, are similar to those in the Insert Tag Tab with four exceptions. The “Toggle” Group (with Sticky Button and Individual Parents), “Generate Tag from Selection” Group (with Table, List, and TOC), the “Others” Group (with the Recall button), and the “Pagination” Group (to quickly artifact running headers and footers) are not available in the Convert Tag Tab.